History YMMV / TheAdventuresOfPinocchio

* HilariousInHindsight: While this film has some LostInImitation aspects from the Disney animated movie, the 2000 Disney-produced TV musical ''Film/{{Geppetto}}'' shows the boys at PleasureIsland turning into donkeys after going through a roller coaster ride, and Pinocchio's nose is used as a ChekhovsGun to escape from the whale.

* EvilIsSexy: Felinet, with her sultry voice and heaving bosom.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: "What Are We Made Of?" by Music/BrianMay and Sissel.

* WhatTheHellCastingAgency: Creator/RobSchneider being cast as Volpe.

* AcceptableTargets: The Justice System. The police officers go after Geppetto and Pinocchio unjustly, ''never'' against an actual villain, the HangingJudge is an old ape who sentences Pinocchio for being robbed, and the very same prison later frees all the inmates just because the Emperor feels like it, with Pinocchio being allowed to leave only after "confessing" to be a criminal.

!! From the Film

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: "What Are We Made Of?" by Music/BrianMay and Sissel.
* CompleteMonster: [[BigBad Lorenzini]], starting out as a powerful, arrogant rival to Geppetto, adopts Pinocchio in return for paying off Geppetto's debt, and soon tries to [[ManOnFire burn]] Pinocchio and Geppetto's other puppets as part of his show. When his business collapses, Lorenzini starts anew by opening Terra Magica, where hundreds of unruly children are spiked with an elixir that [[ForcedTransformation transforms them into donkeys]] which he sells off for slave labor, and even orders one to be skinned to make him a new pair of boots. After being transformed into a sea monster, Lorenzini returns in ''The New Adventures of Pinocchio'', disguised as his "widow", Madame Flambeau, who runs a carnival into which he shanghaies Pinocchio and a transformed Geppetto into performing. Having transformed Pinocchio's friend Lampwick into a sea donkey, Lorenzini threatens Lampwick and Geppetto's lives to coerce Pinocchio into turning himself back into a puppet. Lorenzini has also turned innocent people into fish-like creatures he keeps in his aquarium, which he regularly eats as a dish. Revealing himself as Lorenzini, he intends to eat Lampwick, and use Pinocchio and Geppetto as firewood for his feast.
* CriticalDissonance: The film was poorly received by critics, but was better received by audiences.
* EvilIsCool: As horrible as he is, you have to admit that Lorenzini is an amazing villain for a kid's film.
* EvilIsSexy: Felinet, with her sultry voice and heaving bosom.
* SugarWiki/FunnyMoments:
** The local singer is constantly told to "put a sock in it". At one point, a sock lands in his mouth (courtesy of Pinocchio falling from a building and landing in a clothesline). Pepe notes in the end that he "ate a lot of socks".
** It's even better in the Italian dub, since Pinocchio's voice actress Creator/IlariaStagni also dubbed [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Bart Simpson]], whose catchphrase "Eat my shorts" has been translated into "Ciucciati il calzino" (as in "go suck a sock"), making it an accidental ActorAllusion.
** Tino's FalseReassurance when Geppetto fears that he'll get [[BurnTheWitch burned at the stake]] for accidentally creating a living puppet: "No, no! They've stopped burning people... They might [[HangingAround hang]] you, though!"
* SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments:
** "You're going to kill yourself for one of your puppets?"
---> '''Geppetto:''' He's my son.
** In the end, Pinocchio tells Geppetto that he's sorry he couldn't be a real boy. Geppetto's response?
---> "But you are real to me, my son. You are real to me."
* HilariousInHindsight: While this film has some LostInImitation aspects from the Disney animated movie, the 2000 Disney-produced TV musical ''Film/{{Geppetto}}'' shows the boys at PleasureIsland turning into donkeys after going through a roller coaster ride, and Pinocchio's nose is used as a ChekhovsGun to escape from the whale.
* JerkassWoobie:
** Volpe is far from a good person, but you've got to feel bad for how easily he gets pushed around by Felinet, who herself is a pushover for Lorenzini. Then there's that moment where he admits to missing his father.
** Lampwick. After treating Pinocchio like crap, he begins to warm up to him, only to be turned into a donkey. [[FridgeHorror If being nice to the kid he bullied only turned him into a donkey, then what would have turned into if he was still mean to Pinocchio?]]
* {{Moe}}: If Pinocchio's design doesn't come off as [[UnintentionalUncannyValley creepy]], he can be this. His eyes are ''huge''.
* MoralEventHorizon: Lorenzini crossed it when it was revealed that he had no qualms burning the puppets Geppetto had so lovingly crafted.
* TearJerker: Geppetto being forced to surrender Pinocchio to Lorenzini. He has to [[BreakHisHeartToSaveHim yell at the poor kid to get him to leave]]. The fact that Geppetto had to immediately turn away and clench his eyes just makes it unbearable to watch. Pinocchio is visibly heartbroken, but still whispers "[[UndyingLoyalty I love you, papa...]]" as Lorenzini takes him away.
--> '''Geppetto:''' Why does everything good get thrown to the beasts?
* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: In-Universe Example (though the effects of the actual film are good as well, thanks to Creator/JimHensonsCreatureShop being involved). The production values of the puppet show that Lorenzini is giving are quite impressive given the time period the film is set in.
* WhatTheHellCastingAgency: Creator/RobSchneider being cast as Volpe.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Is Pinocchio a wicked boy who needs to be punished so he learns how to behave, or is he an independent and free-thinking spirit whose bad behavior is exaggerated and subject to DisproportionateRetribution? Is the Blue Fairy a BigGood who only wants what's best for him or is she a ManipulativeBitch who emotionally blackmails him into doing what she wants? In his book ''Pinocchio-papirene'' ("The Pinocchio Papers"), [[UsefulNotes/{{Norway}} Norwegian]] [[UsefulNotes/{{Anarchism}} Anarchist]] author Tor Åge Bringsværd (who clearly [[ValuesDissonance disagrees with several of the book's lessons]]) re-imagines Pinocchio as an emissary from the plant kingdom and the Blue Fairy as ManipulativeBitch WolfInSheepsClothing, and the BigBad of the book, who manipulates and browbeats Pinocchio into forgetting his true mission and becoming an obedient "good boy" who won't cause trouble. Part of the book consists of an in-universe dissection of Carlo Collidi's writings:

* KarmicOverkill: The uncompromising, {{Anvilicious}}, ScareEmStraight morality tales where Pinocchio is constantly punished in the most horrific ways for relatively small crimes, has caused several modern readers to view Pinocchio's world as unnecessarily cruel. It can be (and has been) argued that teaching kids to be on their guard against those who would exploit or abuse them is a valuable lesson... but it's still notable that even in the cases when Pinocchio had noble intentions, and was either a victim of bad circumstances or got in trouble because he naively trusted people who didn't deserve to be trusted, the narrative will still without fail treat him as having acted maliciously and as such deserving of all the bad things that happen to him. Se AlternativeCharacterInterpretation and UnintentionallySympathetic above.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere The snake with the smoking tail]]. While some scholars view a [[DeathOfTheAuthor possible]] religious subtext in it (after encountering the snake Pinocchio gets in trouble by trying to steal a fruit, grapes from a vineyard in his case), it's understandable why most adaptations tend to omit the snake: it comes out of nowhere and is never brought up again.

* ValuesDissonance:
** The uncompromising, {{Anvilicious}}, ScareEmStraight morality tales where Pinocchio is constantly punished in the most horrific ways for relatively small crimes, has caused several modern readers to view Pinocchio's world as unnecessarily cruel. It can be (and has been) argued that teaching kids to be on their guard against those who would exploit or abuse them is a valuable lesson... but it's still notable that even in the cases when Pinocchio had noble intentions, and was either a victim of bad circumstances or got in trouble because he naively trusted people who didn't deserve to be trusted, the narrative will still without fail treat him as having acted maliciously and as such deserving of all the bad things that happen to him. Se AlternativeCharacterInterpretation and UnintentionallySympathetic above.
** Due in part to the Disney adaptation, which softened Pinocchio's character significantly among other things, becoming LostInImitation, more book-faithful adaptations such as the 2002 Roberto Benigni film can be surprising if not shocking to those who haven't read it. Even the adult Benigni playing Pinocchio makes more sense when the original illustrations of the book are taken into account.

* SugarWiki/FunnyMoments: The local singer is constantly told to "put a sock in it". At one point, a sock lands in his mouth (courtesy of Pinocchio falling from a building and landing in a clothesline). Pepe notes in the end that he "ate a lot of socks".

* SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments: "You're going to kill yourself for one of your puppets?"
--> '''Geppetto:''' He's my son.

--> "But you are real to me, my son. You are real to me."

* ValuesDissonance: The uncompromising, {{Anvilicious}}, ScareEmStraight morality tales where Pinocchio is constantly punished in the most horrific ways for relatively small crimes, has caused several modern readers to view Pinocchio's world as unnecessarily cruel. It can be (and has been) argued that teaching kids to be on their guard against those who would exploit or abuse them is a valuable lesson... but it's still notable that even in the cases when Pinocchio had noble intentions, and was either a victim of bad circumstances or got in trouble because he naively trusted people who didn't deserve to be trusted, the narrative will still without fail treat him as having acted maliciously and as such deserving of all the bad things that happen to him. Se AlternativeCharacterInterpretation and UnintentionallySympathetic above.

* AcceptableTargets: The Justice System. The police officers go after Geppetto and Pinocchio unjustly, ''never'' against an actual villain, the HangingJudge sentences Pinocchio for being robbed, and the very same prison later frees all the inmates just because the Emperor feels like it, with Pinocchio being allowed to leave only after "admitting" to be a criminal.

* NightmareFuel:
** If you thought the transformation into donkeys was bad in the [[WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}} Disney movie]], this live-action adaptation makes it arguably even creepier due to the fact we're seeing real actors transitioning into animals, as the special effects that show the mutation of a child's head into that of a donkey provide some disturbing UnintentionalUncannyValley. The lighting and editing of the scene also help the sequence feel nightmarish.
** The Sea Monster. Our first glimpse of it is a big black shape lurking right under Pinocchio's boat as we hear a familiar leitmotif playing. When Pinocchio looks over the edge, we get a bird's-eye view of how massive it is. Then there's the occasional glimpse at its face, which looks twisted and cruel and the human-like teeth (due to the Monster being [[spoiler: a transformed Lorenzini]]) add a layer of UnintentionalUncannyValley.

* HilariousInHindsight:
** Steve Barron's earlier movie ''Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1990'' showed something of a modern-day Pleasure Island with the Foot Clan recruiting kids and teenagers after luring them with a secret hideout in which they can indulge themselves in skating, playing sports and arcade games, painting graffiti, gambling and smoking.
** While this film has some LostInImitation aspects from the Disney animated movie, the 2000 Disney-produced TV musical ''Film/{{Geppetto}}'' shows the boys at PleasureIsland turning into donkeys after going through a roller coaster ride, and Pinocchio's nose is used as a ChekhovsGun to escape from the whale.

* UncertainAudience: [[https://youtu.be/_mMMnbM6ScQ The Nathan Davey Show's review]] suggests that the film's poor performance could be attributed to the fact that it often feels uneven, as if the makers were stuck between wanting to make a "[[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids dark kids movie]]" common in the [[TheEighties '80s]] like ''Film/TheDarkCrystal'' and ''Film/ReturnToOz'' but at the same time wanting to incorporate the more whimsical and sentimental tones of [[TheNineties '90s]] kids movies like ''Film/{{Hook}}'' or ''Film/{{Matilda}}''.

** It's even better in the Italian dub, since the person who dubbed Pinocchio also dubbed [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Bart Simpson]], whose catchphrase "Eat my shorts" has been translated into "Ciucciati il calzino" (as in "go suck a sock"), making it an accidental ActorAllusion.

* NightmareFuel:
** Despite the magical elements, the book displays genuine {{mundanger}} situations about the dangers reckless children can get into such as being taken advantage of by criminals, being targeted by assassins or crazies like the Green Fisherman, dying of sickness, getting in trouble with the law, and of course, the rather clear allegory of child trafficking that the Coachman represents...
** Pinocchio accidentally getting his feet burned while he's sleeping. Just the mere idea that you're lowering your guard and taking a nap and then waking up to discover that you've lost something as important as your feet is quite an uncomfortable image to say the least.
** If you think the Coachman was scary in the Disney film, in the original book he [[spoiler: bites one of his boy-turned-donkeys' ears off while pretending to kiss him.]]